THE STRIPED HYAENA 489 



lobes to the blade of the upper flesh-tooth (see figure on p. 454), in the hyaenas the 

 same tooth (of which a figure is given on p. 356) has a three-lobed blade like that 

 of the cats. Then, again, the lower flesh-tooth, as shown on the left side of the 

 figure on p. 488, is also quite unlike that of a civet, and closely resembles that 

 of a cat, the only well-marked difference being the presence of a larger or smaller 

 heel at the hinder end, although in two of the living species it has also an ad- 

 ditional cusp on the inner side of the cutting blade. This curious resemblance of 

 the flesh-teeth of the hyaenas to those of the cats, it may be remarked in passing, is 

 an instance of what evolutionists now call parallelism in development ; that is to 

 say, the resemblance has been acquired independently in the two families, since it is 

 certain that cats are not descended from hyaenas, while it is even more obvious that 

 hyaenas are not the descendants of cats. 



This resemblance of the teeth of the hyaenas to those of the cats is, however, 

 confined to the flesh-teeth. Thus, in place of having but two premolar teeth in 

 each jaw in front of the flesh-tooth, the hyaenas have three of these teeth in both 

 the upper and the lower jaw between the flesh-tooth and the canine tooth. More- 

 over, these premolar teeth, in place of being much compressed from side to side like 

 those of the cats, have nearly conical and very tall crowns, as is well shown in the 

 figure on p. 488. These strong conical premolar teeth, which are strengthened by 

 small fore-and-aft tubercles at the base, form crushing instruments of immense 

 power.; and it is due to these teeth, aided by the flesh-teeth and the tusks, that a 

 hyaena is able to crunch in its jaws the shin bone of an ox almost as readily as a dog 

 can break that of a fowl. Indeed, no carnivorous animal has jaws and teeth which 

 can be compared for strength and bone-crushing power with those of hyaenas. 



THE STRIPED HY^NA (Hy&na striata} 



The striped hyaena, which is the only representative of the genus found in 

 India, is one of the two smaller and less powerful species, the length of the head 

 and body measuring three and one-half feet, and that of the tail one foot six inches. 

 The species is characterized by its large and pointed ears, by the presence of a crest 

 or mane of long hairs running along the middle of the neck and back, and by the 

 long hair clothing the tail, as well as by the relatively-small size of the hind, as 

 compared with the fore-feet. In color the striped hyaena is dirty gray, with narrow 

 transverse tawny or blackish stripes on the body and legs. 



If the skull be examined, it will be found that the lower flesh-tooth differs 

 from that of the jaw represented in the figure on p. 488, by the greater size of the 

 heel at its hinder base, while on the inner side of the blade of the same tooth there 

 is a small conical cusp which does not appear in the figured jaw. Moreover, in the 

 upper jaw, the molar tooth occurring behind, or rather to the inner side of, the 

 flesh-tooth, has a somewhat large crown, elongated in the transverse direction. 

 In these respects the striped hyaena is less widely removed from the civets than is 

 its cousin the spotted hyaena, and it is also somewhat less powerful in its jaws and 

 teeth. 



